Heroes of Today
by aqaws321
Summary: While Rip Hunter and his crew of time-travelers may be the legends of tomorrow, they still have to prove themselves as the heroes of today. When they find a journal detailing a dangerous experiment dating from the first World War, they jump at the chance to use it to stop Savage once and for all, but they aren't prepared for what they find. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Heroes of Today**

 **Author: CrazedFangirl13**

 **Beta: TheAsterousAuthor**

 **Rating: T (for violence only)**

 **A/N: Welcome! This is the first multi chapter fic of mine that will actually be completed. This will have no slash, no smut, and no language. It is rated T for violence only, and my own paranoia. Many thanks to my wonderful Beta, TAA!**

 **Dedication: To my best friend, who doesn't yet have an account on this site.**

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The sounds of battle raged throughout the facility. The stark white walls had become stained by the blood of both the scientists and Rip's team. As Rip took down another of the white-clad men, he glanced around at the rest of his team. They were easily holding their own, even against the larger numbers. However, he saw no sign of their main enemy, Vandal Savage, the reason they were at this facility in the first place.

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Earlier that day, they had been in 1939, as the professor had wanted to visit the day that Amelia Earhart had officially been declared dead. As they hadn't heard anything about Savage, the rest of the crew readily agreed, grateful for any distraction from the tense atmosphere that had been the prevalent mood since Carter's death. After arriving in January 5th, 1939, Rory and Snart had seen an advertisement for an auction, advertising "Rare Artifacts and Valuable Items From All Over!"

Deciding that the auction was more exciting than someone that was (in their time, at least) already dead, they had disappeared. Three hours later, they showed back up at the ship covered in dirt and holding a torn journal that was written in 1917. They then told the rest of the crew about their experience, which involved Vandal Savage (who had apparently been at the auction and bidding on the journal), a fight (during which they had fought Savage and his minions), the rescue of the book from Savage (even though he had read part of it, they were the ones that had escaped with the journal), and a cabbage merchant (which they had refused to elaborate on).

After they had regaled everyone with this tale, everyone had gathered around the journal in anticipation. Rip opened it, and- "It's written in German," Rip said. "Well, that certain puts a damper on things." Professor Stein stepped forward, holding out his hand. "I can read German," he announced. This was met with a few muttered statements of "of course he does," and Rip handed the journal over.

Everyone watched as he skimmed through the journal, occasionally muttering to himself. Then, "Weapon, experiment, great power- I think the Germans were building a weapon. The author of the journal keeps mentioning an experiment that would help them win the war."

Rip's face lit up st this revelation. "Savage must be trying to take the weapon and use it himself. We have to stop him."

With that objective in mind, they had traveled to the time and date in the journal, found the facility, and gotten into a fight with Savage and his goons, leading Rip back to where he was. After a few more minutes of fighting, they had defeated all of the scientists and Vandal's men, leaving the immortal glaring in fury at them. "It's not worth it," he snarled, almost to himself. Rip watched as something flickered in Savage's eyes, then his own eyes widened when Savage grinned and threw down some small pellets that exploded with a loud sound and a bright flash.

When Rip could finally see again (approximately thirty seconds after the bombs had exploded), Vandal had disappeared and the rest of his team was rubbing their eyes in much the same manner as he had been a few seconds ago. After giving each of his crew a quick once-over and determining that there were no apparent wounds, he clapped his hands together once to bring their attention to him. As they turned to look at him, he started giving them their orders. "Right, then. Let's spread out and search the facility for this experiment that Savage wanted."

As each crew member took off in a different direction, Rip turned and walked down the corridor directly behind him. He saw multiple signs in German, and was about to open a door into what looked like an office when a shout echoed down the hallways, sounding suspiciously like Professor Stein. Rip quickly made his way down the hallway that the professor had taken, seeing the rest of his crew standing by a doorway, apparently waiting for him. When he arrived, he saw that they were all staring through a large window in the wall in shock. As he started to ask what was the matter, he looked through the window and his protest died on his lips.

Kneeling, hunched over and chained by his neck and wrists to the floor and with his back to the door, was a boy.

After a moment, Snart spoke. "Well, we can't just leave him there," and shoved Hunter in the shoulder. Rip started, realizing they were waiting for him to say something. "Right, right. Snart, you and I will go in there. The rest of you, stay out here. We don't want to scare the kid."

Without waiting for the crew to nod their understanding (he knew they would follow his orders on this) he opened the door to the room and stepped inside. The boy's back stiffened as he became aware of someone entering the room, but the chains prevented him from turning to see who it was. Rip eyed the boy, his attention drawn the the shock of fiery red hair atop his head. The kid wore a simple pair of pants and a shirt, both a bland gray color. As Rip looked at him, at a loss for what to do, Snart stepped forward and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, only to jerk it off when the kid jerked his head towards the hand, a definite _click_ sounding in the air as the boy's teeth closed on air.

Snart looked shocked, but his expression quickly morphed into one of rage. "The little brat tried to bite me!" He angrily took a step towards the huddled form on the floor, but was stopped by Rip's hand on his arm. Rip pulled him back a couple steps and whispered to him, "The kid is probably just nervous because he can't see you. Let me try." Looking frustrated, Snart nodded and watched as the leader of the crew stepped forward and slowly approached the boy. He walked around slowly, coming to a stop in front of the kid. He crouched down in front of him when he realized that the boy couldn't see him, bringing himself down to eye level.

Making sure not to make any threatening moves, he asked, "What's your name?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, and thanks to all who followed, favorited, and reviewed!**

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The kid stared at Hunter. Hunter stared back. Snart was getting tired of this whole staring thing, and nudged the kid with his foot. "He asked you a question, kid."

It didn't escape him how the boy had flinched at the contact, but he didn't say anything, just waited as the boy swallowed, seemed to weigh his options, and then said, "Connor." Leonard waited for a moment, thinking that the kid-Connor- was going to add a last name, but none was forthcoming. Hunter nodded, stood, and then beckoned the rest of the team in. Connor, clearly uncomfortable at his position of disadvantage on floor, craned his neck to try and see what was happening. When he realized that more people were coming into the room, he stiffened imperceptibly, but Snart could recognize the tiny movements.

As the rest of the team gathered around the boy, staring down at him, Snart realized that the kid must be extremely uncomfortable. He was chained in a way that he couldn't tilt his head up far enough to see them, but he knew they were there. Sighing to himself (was he really the only one with a lick of sense?), he nudged the professor in the side, getting his attention. "Shouldn't we try and get the kid out of the chains first," he drawled, "And then figure out what to do with him?"

Looking surprised, Stein nodded. "You're right, this can't be comfortable for him. Does anyone have a lock pick or something?"

Mick raised his hand, grinning. "I can always blowtorch it," he said. Hunter shook his head decisively, saying, "Too dangerous. Besides, I'm sure there's a key or something around here-"

"I can pick it," Sara announced. "Just give me a hairpin or something." Rolling her eyes, Kendra handed over a bobby pin after pulling it from her hair. Sara crouched down next to Connor, inserting the hairpin into the lock on the chain around his neck first, and then moved to the ones around his wrists. The kid watched her warily the whole time, seeming unable to decide what to think of the entire situation.

Once the chains had fallen to the ground, Sara stood up, backing away from Connor. He stood up slowly, for all appearances a little stiff, but Snart recognized the signs of someone that was unsure if they were going to be hurt or not. He gritted his teeth, ignored both the reason why he knew that and the small, niggling thought in the back of his mind that kept shouting the reasons why the kid was moving that way, and asked the question that he was sure was running through everyone's mind. "Well, what do we do with him?"

Connor's eyes widened as the full import of the situation seemed to hit him, but Snart was focused more on Hunter. The captain's dry British cut through the tension that had appeared in the room. "Well, I suppose we could give him a ride to the nearest British camp. We can't very well leave him here."

Jackson, speaking up for the first time, said, "Or you could just ask him where he's from."

The rest of the crew glanced at each other, sheepishly realizing the reason in this statement. Stein turned to the kid and kindly asked, "Where are your parents? Where did the scientists take you from?"

Snart thought it was a stretch to hope that the kid would actually answer, but he was surprised when Connor opened his mouth and replied, "I don't know."

Hunter sighed and rubbed his face exasperatedly, and then spoke again. "Well, we'll have to just leave him at a friendly town somewhere. We don't have the time to help him."

Snart was surprised that no one else seemed to recognize the flaw in this plan, so he brought it up himself. "We know that Savage wanted him for some reason, right?"

Everyone nodded, but they seemed to remain oblivious to the (rather obvious, Snart thought) flaw. "What's to stop Savage from coming back and finding him again if we just leave him somewhere?"

Comprehension dawned on the other crew members' faces, and Rip clapped his hands together. "Well, it looks like we've gained a passenger, at least for a short time."

He finally turned to Connor, who had been following the conversation, but the red-haired kid seemed confused. "You're going to come with us. We can keep you safe. Understand?"

Snart watched as the kid's eyes widened, and knew what was going to happen a moment before it actually did. The kid spun on his heel and bolted for the door. Snart, as the closest to the door and the kid, at the moment, reached out and grabbed the back of the kid's shirt. He hauled him backwards, grabbing his upper arm with a firm hand. Connor immediately started fighting him, struggling as if he was being threatened with death, but Snart grabbed his other arm as well, and pulled both behind the kid, pulling him off balance. This didn't stop him from struggling, however, and when Rip tried to talk to him, he merely snarled (really, the kid seemed almost feral), and seemed beyond all reason. Rolling his eyes, Snart nodded at Mick, trusting the pyromaniac to see what he wanted. Sure enough, Mick turned from where he was standing right beside Snart, and gave the kid a solid punch to the face, immediately knocking him unconscious.

The entire group fell silent immediately, until the quiet was broken by the sound of slow clapping. It came from Rip, who grinned bitterly as everyone looked at him. "Oh, well done, you two. Now, not only will Connor wake up in some strange place in the hands of people he doesn't know, the last thing he's going to remember will be being punched!"

Snart rolled his eyes and replied, "Well, I didn't see anyone else coming up with a better idea. Now, are we going to stand here arguing, or are we actually going to do anything?"

Everyone saw the truth in the statement, and (with much grumbling) began the short walk back through the facility to the woods where they had left their ship, with Connor slung in a fireman's carry over Mick's shoulders.

Once they had reached the ship, Mick took the kid to the holding cells on the ship, everyone having decided that was the best place for them to leave him until he woke up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello** , **all! Before I forget, I do not own anything associated with the Legends of Tomorrow tv show. I assume it is owned by DC comics and The CW. Also, there will be talk of violence towards children in this story, but it won't be graphic or be super important.**

 **This is the last chapter that y'all will get until probably around the middle of March, because I'm getting my wisdom teeth out this Friday. Sorry for the delay :|. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter (I was originally going to post it on Thursday but decided the chance to post on Leap Day was too good to pass up), and please leave a review!**

After Mick had dumped the kid in a holding cell, the crew convened in the main area, each reclining in their respective chairs. Snart sat back silently as he observed the rest of his teammates, while also ruminating on his own thoughts on the matter. It was obvious the kid had only reacted badly when the mention of going with the crew had come up, and when no one else seemed eager to initiate conversation, Snart said so.

Rip nodded slowly, saying, "I had noticed that."

Sara spoke up, her face thoughtful, "I wonder if it had anything to do with the scientists? I mean, he was chained to the ground. That wouldn't have happened if whatever happened had been voluntary, right?"

Kendra nodded. "I agree. But I don't think we should just trust him right away. Savage obviously wanted him for a reason."

At this, most of the crew started speaking at once, each throwing their theories out as to why they thought the kid had been in the facility. Snart raised his voice, interrupting the others, "I think you're all forgetting what was in that journal that we found. It referred to an experiment. Savage went after the experiment. The experiment obviously has to mean the kid."

Rip nodded, and replied, "That's what I was thinking as well. However, there's nothing we can do now, and it's almost midnight, so I would suggest getting some rest while we can."

Shrugging, the crew made their way to their respective quarters.

Leonard was awake.

Leonard was awake at three a.m. in the morning, and he couldn't sleep.

Instead of staying in bed, doing whatever inane things people these days normally did to try and fall asleep (counting sheep? Really? Only if the sheep were made of gold and owned by him...), he decided to take a walk around the ship. Maybe be could get something to eat.

As he made his way to the kitchen, he remembered Connor, and wondered if he was awake yet. Surely the kid couldn't still be unconscious. Mick could pack a mean punch, but more than three hours was a stretch even for a lunch from him. He grabbed a plate of food and a glass of water, deciding to eat and visit the kid to see if he was awake at the same time. He slowly made his way to the holding cells, mindful of the other occupants of the ship, not wanting to wake them up.

As he entered the doorway of the section of the ship devoted to the holding cells, he stopped for a moment. What was he doing? He should just go back to bed and worry about the kid in the morning. Why was he here? Because you know what it's like to be scared and alone, his brain told him. Shut up, he told his brain. Shoving those thoughts away, he walked towards the holding cell farthest from the door, the one where Connor had been put. As he came into view of the cell, he saw that the kid was feeling around the edge of the vent set high into the wall of the cell, although the boy had to stand on his tiptoes to be able to even reach the top of the vent. The kid was a little taller than average, Snart noticed, but Snart was still taller.

Snart stepped forward, walking until he was almost right against the energy field that acted as a door to the cell. The boy spun around, even though Snart's footsteps should have been too soft for him to hear. As soon as Connor saw him, the boy's eyes went wide. It was obvious that the kid was uncomfortable in his presence, but Snart admired the way the kid (teen, really, now that Snart could see him the boy was obviously in his teens, perhaps sixteen or seventeen?) did not back down. Instead, he held his ground, red hair very pronounced in the muted grays and blues that made up his surroundings.

Snart cleared his throat, almost (but not quite) feeling awkward in the silence. "Bet you're wondering why you're here, huh," he drawled. Suddenly realizing he was still holding the plate of food in one hand and the glass of water in the other, he set both on the ground beside his feet, unwilling to sit while the teen across from him was standing. Said teen simply stared at him for so long Snart almost began to think that the kid couldn't talk, but he was startled out of his reverie by the kid clearing his own throat. He watched as Connor seemed to find his voice, and was somehow unsurprised to hear that the kid's voice was rusty, as if from disuse. "Why did you bring me here?"

Snart shrugged easily. "Well, we couldn't leave you there."

Connor watched him, warily, untrustingly. After a few moments of this, Snart grew tired of standing and decided to sit. He took a seat cross-legged on the floor, and Connor, after a moment's hesitation, did the same inside his cell. It was almost as if the teen was waiting for permission. Snart, deciding that nothing else seemed to be forthcoming from the kid, picked up one of the sandwiches he had brought from the kitchen and began to eat.

He noticed how Connor's eyes seemed to track his progress with the sandwich, and had the sudden thought that maybe the kid was hungry. Shrugging, he spoke again, "Hey, kid. You hungry?"

He watched as Connor's eyes jerked up from where they had been looking (somewhat longingly, now that he thought about it), and the kid stared at him for a long moment. Slowly, as if expecting a trick, Connor nodded. Snart stood, groaning quietly as he did so. He walked over to the small control panel for the energy field, taking the remaining sandwich with him. He talked to the kid as he prepared to type in the code, saying, "Look, I have to open this for a second to give you the sandwich. If you want it, you're going to have to promise not to make a run for it, okay?"

Connor nodded, eyes fixed on the older man. Snart wasn't convinced, though, remembering the scene from earlier when Connor had tried to flee, and added, "Even if you try and run, we implanted a chip in you that'll knock you unconscious if you get outside your cell. Understand?"

Snart watched as the kid seemed to deflate a bit, but nodded once again. Snart felt somewhat bad for lying to the kid, but better safe than sorry in these situations. Carefully, Smart typed the code into the control panel and set the sandwich down inside the cell before quickly reactivating the energy field. He then sat back down in his original spot and watched as Connor took the sandwich in his hands, studied it, and after it had seemingly passed his inspection, took a tentative bite. His eyes widened, and Snart watched as he wolfed down the thing in only a few more bites, and Snart uneasily reflected on how hungry the teen must've been to eat like that.

They stayed, watching each other, for another half hour before Snart left. He could feel the younger male's eyes on his back as he walked away. Leonard headed back to his quarters, finally able to sleep, but drifted off into uneasy dreams filled with things that he couldn't quite make out but he knew he should help.

 **I hope y'all enjoyed, and is it just me or do these chapters keep getting longer? Anyway, please review, and have a wonderful week!**

 **(Published 2/29/16)**


	4. Chapter 4

I feel like these chapters are getting longer and longer...

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As Snart made his way into the kitchen at seven in the morning, he was mildly surprised to find the rest of the crew already there. Then again, he reflected, they hadn't spent time the previous night talking to a teenager that had been experimented on, which was something that tended to make one tired.

He ignored the stares he was getting from everyone except Mick, and poured himself a bowl of cereal. As he sat down at the counter after grabbing a spoon, he decided he had finally had enough. "What," he growled, "Do you find so interesting that you have to stare at me?"

Everyone quickly looked away, whether it be at their own plates or at Hunter. Hunter, however, kept a steady gaze on Snart, and spoke without a hint of inflection in his voice, "Why did you decide to visit Connor last night?"

Snart shrugged, refusing to be cowed by the other man, and replied, "I woke up and decided to get something to eat, and then I wanted to see if the kid was awake yet. How did you even find out?"

Without turning his gaze away, Hunter said, "Gideon informed me. Why, may I ask, did you feel the need to spend so much time down there?"

Snart almost growled, saying, "I should've known that stupid computer wouldn't keep its mouth shut. And I stayed down there so long because I let the kid eat something. He looked half-starved."

Hunter finally stopped glaring at Snart, instead closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I assume you had to open the cell to give him some food?"

Taking a somewhat petty pleasure in annoying the time-traveler, Snart drawled, "Yes, I did," and continued even when he saw Hunter opening his mouth, "But I told the kid that we implanted a chip in him that'll knock him unconscious if he puts so much as a toe outside the boundary of his cell. He believed me, so I didn't see anything wrong in letting him have some food."

Rip rubbed his face exasperatedly. While he was occupied doing this, Kendra spoke up. "So, have we decided what we're going to do with him?"

Ray replied, "We've already established that we can't let him go, because Savage might find him."

Jackson looked at Professor Stein, both of them seeming to have a somewhat telepathic conversation (Snart recalled hearing one of them talk to the other at one time about an actual semi-psychic connection that was active whether or not they were in the form of Firestorm), and then the younger man said, "Well, we are one crew member short, right?" He glanced at Kendra as he said this, obviously regretful to have to bring up the subject of her friend's death, but plowed on, "If we could convince him to work with us, we could keep him away from Savage and maybe gain an edge, right?"

Hunter clapped his hands together and pointed at the younger man, saying, "Precisely what I was thinking! It really is our only option, and, honestly, how hard can it be to convince a teenager to travel through space and time? They all always seem to dream about it anyway."

Snart privately thought to himself, harder than you would think, given the teenager, but kept his thoughts to himself. After the rest of the crew had murmured their assent (or at least not voiced any objections) Rip called out to the ceiling, "Gideon, is our young guest awake?"

When the computer answered in the affirmative, the entire crew by unspoken agreement followed their captain to the holding cells.

A solemn silence seemed to surround the small group, but the somber mood was broken as Jackson suddenly muttered, quietly, but still loud enough to be heard by everyone, "Ouch," and then flushed as he realized what had happened. With a muttered, "Sorry," the group continued on their way.

They soon reached the holding cell that contained the strange teen, and Snart blinked in mild surprise when the kid seemed to be sleeping. However, as he watched Connor breathe, he realized that the rhythm of his breathing seemed to be a bit too fast for sleep. He sighed quietly as he realized the kid was faking sleep, and called out, "Come on, kid, make it easier on yourself and quit pretending," adding, when nothing happened, "Don't make one of us come in there and get you."

This seemed to have an effect, and Connor fluidly rolled to his feet from the small ledge jutting out from the wall that he had been lying on. The teen stood warily, having frozen the moment he realized everyone's eyes were on him. His eyes flitted over all of them, coming to rest on Snart, who was in the back. Connor broke eye contact almost as quickly as he had made it, his gaze coming to rest on the captain. He made no move to initiate conversation, however, instead deciding to just stand silently and wait for his captors to make the first move.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Rip spoke up. "We have a proposition for you. We can't just set you in a random place and leave you to your own devices, but we can't supervise you around the clock constantly either. So, you have two choices. You either work with us, or we're going to have to move you to a much more secure and restricted cell until such a time that a better agreement can be reached."

Snart wanted to strangle the man. He had made it so that the kid was obviously going to choose to work with them, because, given the conditions he had been found in, Snart sure didn't think that the teen was going to choose to be imprisoned by strangers for an indefinite amount of time.

Sure enough, Connor barely hesitated before answering, a strong accent becoming apparent as he spoke. "Well then, I don't see that you've given me much choice, have you?"

Rip shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly, waiting for a definite answer. It came a moment later. "I'll work with you." The captain nodded in satisfaction, then turned to the rest of the crew. "If you all would give us a moment?"

Snart was reluctant to leave as the situation was becoming more and more tense, but followed his teammates out of the cell block and back into the main area that they gathered in (they seriously needed a better name for it. He was getting tired of referring to it as "the seat room" in his head), and everyone took their respective seats.

After they had waited for about ten minutes, Rip finally appeared. Behind him was the kid, who was eying the room apprehensively, but followed the captain into the room. Rip nodded to room at large, obviously pleased. "Connor has agreed to work with us, and knows the rules. I'm pleased to announce as well, I think I know where Savage is. June 23rd, 1902."

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Hey, everyone! Sorry it took me this long to get the chapter out (and it's a bit of a filler chapter at that, but some important stuff happens/starts happening in this chapter), but my wisdom teeth were a pain. Long story short, my mouth was still very swollen past the point when it should've started going down, but when we went to the oral surgeon to have them check, my mouth was so swollen they couldn't even check if I had an infection. They put me on stronger meds, though, and I'm happy to say I'm feeling much better and am almost completely healed. But that's the main reason it took so long.

Second, I used the American version of "eying" in this chapter, the British version being "eyeing".

Third, and _**IMPORTANTLY**_ , for reviewers, I will be having a shoutout to ever reviewer that is a multiple of five. For example, the person that leaves the 5th review gets a shoutout, and 10th, and 15th, and so on.

Finally, if you haven't seen it yet, this is an AU.

Please review and let me know what you think! What do you think Rip told Connor?


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